Toy track and aerial railway



TOY TRACK AND AERIAL RAILWAY Filed Aug. 31, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEYS ec. 15, 1964 A. ElNFALT v TOY TRACK AND AERIAL RAILWAY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 31, 1962 ATTORNEYS United States Patent firm Filed Aug. 31, 1962, Ser. No. 220,663 Claims priority, applicEatiie Germany, Feb. 10, 1962,

Claims. a. 46-202) The invention relates to a toy which consists of a selfcontained, for example, oval track which has a raised section and a sunken section on which toy vehicles, such as toy motor cars, can run and which roll from the highest to the lowest point of the track under the action of gravity and are pushed from the lowest to the highest point of the track by a motor-driven entrainment mechamsm.

In a known-toy of this kind a slot is provided in the portion of the track between the lowest and highest point thereof through which slot the entrainment mechanism can engage the toy motor car from below and push it from the sunken section to the raised section. The slot provided in the track for the entrainment mechanism seriously detracts from the appearance of the toy. Moreover, the interest which such a toy awakens is only slight.

To overcome these objections it is proposed according to the invention to arrange the portion of the track leading from the lowest to the highest point thereof Within an imitation mountain between the summit and base stations of which an aerial railway is arranged the drive of which is derived from the drive of the entrainment mechanism.

By this construction according to the invention, the interest in the toy is considerably increased. There are now two separately controlled independent movements of toy imitations of large technical engineering installations, namely the movement of toy motor cars on a road and the running up and down of suspended cars of the aerial railway.

The independent switch-over movements of the two cars on the toy are, however, controlled by a single, common drive assembly. According to the invention this assembly serves for driving the entrainment element and v the aerial railway and is arranged within the imitation mountain. It has a continuous driving shaft projecting at two opposite sides, one end carrying a rope pulley for driving the aerial railway and the other the entrainment element.

The toy motor cars are pushed from the lowest to the highest point of the track by the entrainment element engaging the motor car to be pushed by means of an end piece bent at an angle. The entrainment element or its end piece is preferably guided from the highest to the lowest point of the track by means of a guide rail.

The track section provided for moving the toy motor cars and leading from the highest to the lowest point is preferably formed by pressing. It is, however, bordered from the lowest to the highest point by a guide riband the inner side of the outer wall of the imitation mountain.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective View of the toy;

FIG. 2 is a section taken on, line II-II of FIG. 3;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view ofthe imitation mountain of the toy;

FIG. 4 is a section taken on line IV--IV of FIG. l,v

and

while ice 2 FIG. 6 shows'the development of the guide rail for the entrainment element.

As can be seen from the perspective view of the toy illustrated by way of example in FIG. 1, it consists of a base plate 1, on which an oval track 2 is embossed or pressed. An imitation mountain 3 is also fixed on the plate 1 and an imitation aerial railway 6 extends between the summit and base of the mountain. Toy vehicles 7 in the form of motor cars run on the track 2 in the direction of the arrow x because the track has a downward slope from the exit 8 of a tunnel to the entrance 9 thereof, so that the movement of the vehicles is caused by the action of gravity.

Inside the imitation mountain 3 a drive assembly 10 is arranged which serves for bringing the toy motor cars 7 from the tunnel entrance 9 to the tunnel exit 8 and also for driving the aerial railway 6. The drive assembly consists of a housing 11 which is fixed on the shell 12 of the mountain 3. In the drive assembly housing 11 a volute spring 13 is mounted on a winding shaft 15 together with a gear wheel 14. The gear wheel 14 meshes with a pinion 15 which is mounted on a shaft 18 coaxially with a crown wheel 16 and a gear wheel 17. A regulator 23 is driven through the intermediary of transmission wheels 19 and 20, driven by the gear wheel 17, and of pinions 21 and 22.

The crown wheel 16 is in mesh with a pinion 24 arranged at right angles to it on a driving shaft 25. This shaft 25 carries at its upper end 26 a rope pulley 27 and at its lower end 28 an entrainment element 29.

The rope pulley 27 is arranged in the summit station 30 at the top of the aerial railway 6. A similar rope pulley 31 is mounted rotatable on an axle 32 in the base station 5 at the bottom of the aerial railway 6. An imitation wire rope 33, preferably consisting of a spiral spring, is wrapped round the rope pulleys 27 and 31.

Imitation suspended cars 34 can be attached to the imitation rope 33.

The entrainment element 29 is pivotally mounted on a transverse pin 35 in the driving shaft 25 so that its end piece 36, which bears on the track portion 37 between the tunnel entrance 9 and tunnel exit 8, can adapt itself to the gradient of the track.

It is advisable, in order to ensure reliable pivoting of the entrainment element 29, to guide it on a rail 38. This guide rail 38 forms at the same time the boundary of the space 39 inside the imitation mountain 4. Whereas, as already mentioned, the track portion from the tunnel exit 8 to the tunnel mouth 9 is pressed in the base plate 1, the track from the tunnel mouth or entrance 9 to the tunnel exit 8 is bordered on the inner side by a guide rib 40 of the plate 1 and on the outer side by the inner side of the shell 12 of the imitation mountain 3.

To increase the interest in the toy, it is proposed to arrange in known manner a stopping device 41 in the visible portion of the oval track, consisting of a pin 42 which can he slid into the track. This stop is released by a toy motor car 7 as it runs over a point 43 of the track where an actuating member 44 is arranged. This toy motor car 7 when running over the point 43 depresses the member 44 so that the pin 42 connected to the member 44 by a lever 45 is also depressed below the surface of the track. The lever 45 is pivoted on the under side of the plate 1 by means of clips 46 so that it can swing up and down transversely to its length.

The track plate and the imitation mountain can be stamped or pressed in such a manner as to give an impression of a landscape with houses."

I claim:

1. A toy comprising:' a continuous track having a raised and a sunken stretch on which toy vehicles are movable by rolling from the highest to the lowest point under the action of gravity; a motor-driven entrainment element positioned to closely overlie and movable on said track in the direction of vehicle movement between the lowest and highest points thereof for pushing the vehicles between said points; an imitation mountain housing that portion of said track which extends in the direction of vehicle travel from the lowest to the highest point thereof; a toy aerial railway extending between a station at the summit and a'second station at the base of said mountain; and a common drive assembly for said entrainment element and said aerial railway.

2. A toy according to claim 1, wherein the common drive assembly for the entrainment element and the aerial railway is positioned within said imitation mountain and comprises a driving shaft projecting at its two opposite ends; a rope pulley for driving the aerial railway mounted on one end of said shaft; and said entrainment element 4 for shifting the vehicles from the lowest to the highest point of the continuous track mounted on the other end of said shaft.

3. A toy as defined by claim 1 wherein said entrainment element comprises an elongated arm having its outer end cranked through a substantially 90 angle.

4. A toy as defined by claim 3 wherein that portion of said track housed within said mountain includes a guide rail and wherein said cranked end-piece of said entrainment element slides on said rail.

5. A toy as defined by claim 1 wherein the inner wall of said mountain forms an outer guide rail for that portion of said track housed therein.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS 1,232,300 France Apr. 19, 1960 

1. A TOY COMPRISING: A CONTINUOUS TRACK HAVING A RAISED AND A SUNKEN STRETCH ON WHICH TOY VEHICLES ARE MOVABLE BY ROLLING FROM THE HIGHEST TO THE LOWEST POINT UNDER THE ACTION OF GRAVITY; A MOTOR-DRIVEN ENTRAINMENT ELEMENT POSITIONED TO CLOSELY OVERLIE AND MOVABLE ON SAID TRACK IN THE DIRECTION OF VEHICLE MOVEMENT BETWEEN THE LOWEST AND HIGHEST POINTS THEREOF FOR PUSHING THE VEHICLES BETWEEN SAID POINTS; AN IMITATION MOUNTAIN HOUSING THAT PORTION OF SAID TRACK WHICH EXTENDS IN THE DIRECTION OF VEHICLE TRAVEL FROM THE LOWEST TO THE HIGHEST POINT THEREOF; A TOY AERIAL RAILWAY EXTENDING BETWEEN A 